Amour et haine sont les enfants du vin (Proverbe Azande – République Centrafricaine (RCA)).
Love and hate are the children of wine (Azande proverb – Central African Republic (CAR)).
Amour et haine / Love and Hate
Month: April 2025
Trade Wars in Africa
A few weeks ago, President Trump of the United States started trade wars with China and other countries; these have had a ripple effect throughout the rest of the world felt even in Africa. This has made countries realize the importance of growing local businesses as well, which should be a normal vision: one’s country first, develop the local infrastructures, local companies, agriculture, local people, and interests first. Africa has a greater need for this, as it is so far behind in terms of development. How can we have so many resources, but not develop them on the continent? I get to eat chocolate from cocoa beans from Ivory Coast, but it is written “product of Switzerland”. When you visit high end furniture places around the world, you will find that the wood comes from the forests of Cameroon or Gabon. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is full of cobalt, tantalum, and so many other resources, yet does not refine any of them. Should we even mention the oil producers of Africa? Before Dangote of Nigeria [Africa’s Richest Man Builds One of the World’s Largest Oil Refineries], the oil was taken from Gabon, Nigeria, etc, shipped to somewhere in Europe, and then imported back into the same African countries as refined products [Swiss Firms poison Oil destined for Africa]. How can many African countries import sugar like Cameroon, when the country is filled with sugar cane fields? Or how can they import onions like Senegal, when there are many local Senegalese onion farmers? There is a need to, as Thomas Sankara said, “consume locally [The Faso Dan Fani: Woven Cloth of the Homeland].”
The most recent trade war on the continent involves Tanzania, Malawi, and South Africa. Last week, normally bustling border crossings between Tanzania and Malawi were quieter than usual as an escalating regional trade row is taking place.
Last Thursday, Tanzania banned the entry of all agricultural imports from Malawi and South Africa in response to what has been seen as unfair restrictions on some of its exports. It is a tit for tat. South Africa has for years blocked the entry of bananas from Tanzania, yet it exports its grapes and apples to Tanzania. Last month, Malawi also blocked imports of flour, rice, ginger, bananas and maize. These various exports from South Africa will be impacted by the Tanzanian ban. Meanwhile, landlocked Malawi, which has relied on Tanzanian ports to carry its exports such as tobacco, sugar and soybeans to the rest of the world, will have to reroute its goods, most likely through Mozambique, or possibly South Africa?
Tanzania’s Agriculture Minister, Hussein Bashe confirmed the ban on Wednesday, “We are taking this step to protect our business interests… in business, we must all respect each other.” Since then, diplomatic efforts to resolve the trade issues have so far failed.
He added that Malawi’s move had “directly affected” his country’s traders and described the restrictions as “unfair and harmful“, he added, “No Tanzanian will die from a lack of South African grapes or apples,” he said, adding that, “we are taking these actions to protect Tanzanian interests“.
Check out articles from BBC: Tanzania bans South Africa and Malawi imports as trade row escalates
Malawi-Tanzania trade row: ‘My bananas were seized and destroyed’
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Pope Francis I in Africa
Pope Francis visited Africa 5 times in his 12 years, traveling to 10 countries on the continent. His first visit took him to Kenya, the Central African Republic (CAR), and South Sudan in November 25 – 30, 2015. His second visit was to Morocco in March 30 – 31, 2019; his third visit was to Mozambique, Madagascar, and Mauritius in September 4 – 9, 2019; while his last visit was in February 2 – 5, 2023, to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and again South Sudan. His visits supposedly focused on inter-religious dialogue Christian-Muslim as in CAR, peace building as in South Sudan, and social justice. He denounced corruption and economic colonialism, and even ‘asked’ colonial powers to let Africa flourish, which many people saw mostly as symbolic empty words. Let us ponder below, on some of his visits.
As we all know, there are no coincidences, and no charity! Why would the Pope visit CAR, one of the worlds’ ‘poorest’ countries? Because he loved peace? Because he loved the poor so much? It is important to remember that CAR has a lot of diamond mines and … uranium. Remember how Bokassa used to give Valéry Giscard d’Estaing ostrich-egg-size diamonds? During his visit to the DRC, the Pope made a grand speech stating all the things Africans love to hear, Pope says Hands off Africa: “Hands off the Democratic Republic of the Congo! Hands off Africa! Stop choking Africa, it is not a mine to be stripped or a terrain to be plundered.” Why would the Pope visit the DRC just after the big signing of cobalt and copper mines to the US, and after Anthony Blinken, the Belgian king, …? Or South Sudan? Did you know that South Sudan has the 3rd largest oil fields in Africa behind Nigeria and Angola? This is not an attack on religion or the Pope, it is just facts! President Charles De Gaulle of France once said that, “states do not have friends, they only have interests.”
In 2019, the Pope visited Mozambique just before the major signing of the biggest gas fields in the world to the French firm Total and a condominium of commercial banks from around the world descended upon it? Ever since that 15 billion dollars contract with the French firm Total for the oil in Cabo Delgado, and the discovery of one of the largest oil, gas, diamonds, rubies fields in the world, peace in northern Mozambique has become evasive (Who/What did we say goodbye to in Africa in 2020?). Mozambique is home to some of the world’s largest ruby mines with Montepuez Ruby mine being the most significant … guess where it is located… Cabo Delgado! We are now to believe that Islamists jumped over Congo, Sudan, Kenya, Tanzania, to land in… Mozambique to start an Islamic insurgency! After his Mozambican visit, Pope Francis sent money to help the people and children of Mozambique who have been displaced by conflict! … Why did the Vatican not help the government of Samora Machel in their fight for independence back in the days? or some of the more recent governments? Why send money for the displaced, and not force for peace or have peace summits (not that these help anyways), etc? It is no secret the part that the Vatican played in the Angolan Civil War between the MPLA of Jose Eduardo Dos Santos and the UNITA of Jonas Savimbi, so it is only fair to be skeptical about a pope touring these very rich countries.
In 2023, a Vatican statement said the papal bulls, or decrees, “did not adequately reflect the equal dignity and rights of Indigenous peoples” and “therefore [the Vatican] repudiates those concepts that fail to recognize the inherent human rights of Indigenous peoples, including what has become known as the legal and political ‘doctrine of discovery.’” It has been 2 years since this “rejection of the ‘Doctrine of Discovery’”, and we can now state that it was all words … no actions! [Vatican rejects ‘Doctrine of Discovery’ used to Justify Colonial Quest and Theft of Land, Dum Diversas or The Vatican’s Authorization of Slavery].
Maybe now, we will see an African pope? Everyone acknowledges that the Catholic church’s future is in Africa, but the African presence in the Vatican is still sparse. We doubt that there will now be an African pope, but even if there is, it will probably be a bonnet blanc et blanc bonnet like Obama, and one used just like him or Kofi Annan before him, to usher some of the greatest atrocities on the continent. Thus, dear African, please don’t sleep! As the Catholics of the world mourn, sympathize; but don’t get distracted! This is the era of the New Scramble for Africa … Stay awake! Sharpen your minds and weapons, and free yourself! Let us not forget that the original Scramble for Africa started with missionaries as Sengat-Kuo showed in his poem ‘Ils Sont Venus’ / ‘They Came’.
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Solidarité / Solidarity
Les dents sont toutes amies entre elles (Proverbe Galla – Ethiopie).
The teeth are all friends among themselves (Galla proverb – Ethiopia).
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So Long to the Pontifical Leader
Pope Francis I, the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State, passed away this Monday April 21st, on Easter Monday. Jorge Mario Bergoglio was the first Latin American pontiff in world history, the first from the Southern Hemisphere, the first from the Society of Jesus (Jesuit order), and the first born or raised outside of Europe since the 8th century Syrian pope Gregory III. He sat at the realm of the Catholic Church for 12 years, as its 266th pope. His time as pontiff has been seen by many as controversial.
Bergoglio was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1936. He came from an Italian family, his dad being an Italian immigrant in Argentina, and his mother from a family from northern Italy. He was inspired to join the Jesuits in 1958 after recovering from a severe illness. He was ordained a Catholic priest in 1969. He quickly rose through the ranks to serve as the Jesuit provincial superior in Argentina from 1973 to 1979. He became the archbishop of Buenos Aires in 1998 and was made cardinal in 2001 by Pope John Paul II.
After the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, Bergoglio was elected at the end of the papal conclave to succeed him on March 13, 2013. He chose Francis as his papal name in honor of Saint Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of the environment, animals and birds.
Throughout his public life, his leadership was defined by his dedication to social justice and support to the marginalized. However, he was accused by some of not doing enough to oppose the generals of the brutal military dictatorship that governed Argentina between 1976 and 1983 – especially after the military kidnapped two priests.
He maintained that the Catholic Church should be more sympathetic toward LGBTQ people, and in 2023, he stated that although blessings of same-sex unions are not permitted, the LGBTQ individuals can be blessed as long as blessings are not given in a liturgical context. This was met by significant criticism from his members. Francis strongly opposed trickle-down economics, consumerism, and excessive development, emphasizing the urgent need for climate action throughout his papacy. However, the greatest challenge to his papacy came from those who accused him of failing to tackle child abuse.
With his election to the pontifical office, there was hope for him to rejuvenate the church, and expand to other parts of the world. As Pope, he appointed more than 140 cardinals from non-European countries – including 15 in December 2024.
Over the years, he visited 68 countries on all continents, including a) Africa: 10 countries, focusing on peace-building, social justice, and interfaith dialogue; b) Asia: 22 countries, emphasizing religious tolerance and environmental concerns; c) Europe: 23 countries, addressing migration, economic inequality, and Catholic unity; d) North & South America: 12 countries, advocating for indigenous rights, poverty alleviation, and climate action.
Early in 2022, Francis expressed “shame and sorrow” for the Catholic Church’s role in abuses against the Indigenous peoples in Canada. He apologized for the church’s role in “projects of cultural destruction” and forced assimilation. Near the former Ermineskin Indian Residential School, the site of a search for unmarked graves, Francis said: “I humbly beg forgiveness for the evil committed by so many Christians against the Indigenous peoples.” Vatican rejects ‘Doctrine of Discovery’ used to Justify Colonial Quest and Theft of Land. We are allergic to words without actions… and as you can see this was just it!
Pope Francis visited Africa 5 times in his 12 years, going to 10 countries. His first visit to the continent took him to Kenya, the Central African Republic (CAR), and South Sudan in November 25 – 30, 2015. His second visit was to Morocco in March 30 – 31, 2019; his third visit was to Mozambique, Madagascar, and Mauritius in September 4 – 9, 2019. His last visit was in February 2 – 5, 2023, to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and again South Sudan (The Pope Visits the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan). His visits supposedly focused, on paper, on inter-religious dialogue Christian-Muslim as in CAR, peace building as in South Sudan, and social justice. He ‘denounced’ corruption and economic colonialism, and even ‘asked’ colonial powers to let Africa flourish, Pope says Hands off Africa: “Hands off the Democratic Republic of the Congo! Hands off Africa! Stop choking Africa, it is not a mine to be stripped or a terrain to be plundered. In Africa, although pope Francis addressed clerical abuse scandals, many felt that he did not denounce child abuse on the continent as much as he did in other parts of the world.
As days go by, we will discuss further.
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Gabon Oligui Nguema Wins by Landslide
When you are a chosen one of the West, democracy is just a word. You can win with numbers similar to those of a banana republic, and you will get applauded. You can trade your military fatigues for a suit, so long as you keep your friendship with the metropolis, you will be loved, cherished, and praised, and your intelligence will be lauded above all else. After all, you are there to serve the external masters, and they have given you carte blanche. This past Saturday, Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema won the presidential elections in Gabon with an overwhelming 90.35% of the vote (only in our tropical banana republics can we see this). It reminds us of a time when another ‘great democrat’ (who, mind you, has been in power for over 30 years) of Rwanda won by 99%! My goodness! And the West will give us great lessons of democracy! When Traoré got his country and parliament to give him 5 years of confidence (Burkina Faso’s Transition Government Gets a 5-year Confidence Vote by the People)… there was an outcry in the MSM. Even when Maduro in Venezuela got 51+%, the mighty international community called him a dictator. What of Kagame? Double Standards is all! Honestly, the problem is not Oligui Nguema, but rather the double standards, and that concept which has been drilled into our heads called democracy, but which in reality is a tool used by the West to praise those who serve well or to destroy the ‘bad’ students who refuse to bow down (Africans and the Trap of Democracy, and Africans, let us not Fall in the Trap of Democracy!). By the way, did you notice that since we published our article on Friday, the MSM have now taken to calling him ‘coup leader’ when before it was not the case?
Oligui Nguema told Al Jazeera that he ‘will restore dignity to the Gabonese people‘. We can only hope for the best for the people of Gabon.
You can check out Le Monde, BBC, RFI, AP, The Print, and Al Jazeera… there is such a discrepancy compared to the treatment of the leaders of the AES in the media.
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Gabon and the Double Standards of the International Community
This Saturday April 12, 2025, Gabon will go to the presidential elections to elect its next president. There are honestly just a few candidates, more like 2 real ones, and one of them is General Brice Oligui Nguema, a military leader who orchestrated a coup that removed Ali Bongo almost 2 years ago [Is the Wind of Change blowing in Gabon too?], while the other candidate is just there for show. Oligui Nguema is the only military leader who made a coup on the continent in the past few years, and has been applauded by the West and the mainstream media. While Colonel Assimi Goita, Captain Ibrahim Traore, or General Abdourahamane Tchiani have been insulted and called all sorts of names, like junta leaders, little captains, illiterates, etc, for wanting the freedom of their people and leading coups that have kicked out the West’s puppets, colonial powers and external forces that were leeching onto their lands and resources, Oligui Nguema on the other hand has been applauded, saluted, and lauded. Why? because he represents the status quo in the relationship between Gabon and the West, particularly France; after all Gabon is known as the cash cow of France. Now, he has traded his military uniform to take part in the presidential elections, and every single Western news outlets has been applauding him, calling him, like BBC, the “coup-mastermind-turned-transitional leader … highly articulate ….” The double standard of the west is appalling!
Excerpts below are from the BBC, but the same praises are sung by France24, RFI, Reuters, and others.
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Little more than 19 months after the bloodless coup that brought an end to more than five decades of rule by the Bongo family [Oligui Nguema is a nephew of Ali Bongo, thus still a part of the Bongo Family], the people of Gabon are about to head to the polls to choose a new head of state – bucking a trend that has seen military leaders elsewhere in Africa cling on to power.
The overwhelming [western] favourite in the race on Saturday is the man who led that peaceful putsch and has dominated the political scene ever since, Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema.
Having abandoned his soldier’s fatigues and military status in favour of a politician’s suit, this highly articulate former commander of the elite Republican Guard [since he is the one they like, he is articulate, while those of the AES are illiterates] faces seven other candidates.
Basking in popularity among a population relieved to be rid of dynastic rule [the leaders in the AES also bask in popularity among their people, but that doesn’t count since they are not going in the direction wanted by the west] – and assisted by electoral regulations that disqualified some key challengers [that is not questionable?] – the 50-year-old appears almost certain to secure an outright majority in the first ballot.
… His chances of avoiding a second round run-off are bolstered by the fact that his main challenger – one of the rare senior political or civil society figures not to have rallied to his cause – is the old regime’s last prime minister, Alain-Claude Bilie-By-Nze, known by his initials ACBBN.
Victory will bring a seven-year mandate and the resources to implement development and modernising reform at a pace that the rulers of crisis-beset African countries could not even dream of.
With only 2.5 million people, Gabon is an established oil producer [yet, given that it is France’s cash cow, it looks nothing like the Gulf countries] and the world’s second-largest exporter of manganese.
… Oligui Nguema took shrewd advantage, reaching out to build a broad base of support for his transitional regime. He brought former government figures, opponents and prominent hitherto critical civil society voices into the power structure or institutions such as the appointed senate. Political detainees were freed, though Ali Bongo’s wife and son remain in detention awaiting trial on corruption charges [There is no problem with the west if Nguema keeps Bongo’s wife and son in detention, but Tchiani cannot hold Bazoum – double standards].
He did not resort to the sort of crackdowns on dissent or media freedom that have become a routine tool of Francophone Africa’s other military leaders, in Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso and Niger [Nguema is good for the West, not bad like those of the AES – double standards].
… On the diplomatic front, in marked contrast to the assertively anti-Western posture adopted by the regimes in West Africa, Oligui Nguema despatched senior figures to cultivate international goodwill and reassure Gabon’s traditional partners of his determination to restore civilian constitutional government within a tightly limited timeframe [nice puppy].
Relations with France, the former colonial power and previously a close ally of the Bongo regime, are warm [of course].
… When Oligui Nguema brushed off some parliamentarians’ concern about the concentration of executive power in the presidency by abolishing the post of prime minister, there was little fuss [Just imagine the ruckus the MSM will make if Goita or Tchiani eliminated the prime minister office].
…
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So Long to Malian Singer, Member of Duo Amadou & Mariam
“Je pense à toi, mon amour, ma bien-aimée, Ne m’abandonne pas, Je pense à toi, Mon amour Ma chérie” … [“I am thinking of you, my love, my beloved. Do not abandon me, my love, my dear …“]
Those are the words of the song that propelled the blind Malian duo Amadou & Mariam onto the international scene, beyond West Africa. Those words rocked the lives of millions of African children as a lullaby in some cases. Sadly, Amadou, from the duo, is no longer.
The duo Amadou & Mariam was made up of singer and guitarist, Amadou Bagayoko, and his wife Mariam Doumbia. The Grammy-nominated duo Amadou & Mariam was a blind duo from Mali. They both met at the Institute for the young blind in Bamako in 1976, in the capital of Mali. Bagayoko became blind at the age of 15, while Mariam was at age 5. Mariam started singing at weddings from a young age, while Amadou played instruments. At the institute, they joined the Eclipse Orchestra and quickly became a couple both on stage and in real life. They got married in 1980. Their music blend their traditional Malian sounds emanating from the kora or balafon, with the rock guitars and Western blues. This iconic couple became a source of inspiration to countless artists from Bamako to Dakar, to Abidjan or Conakry. Their music has been anchored in the rich tradition of griots of West Africa [The Griot, the Preserver of African Traditions].
Amadou & Mariam went on to sell millions of albums across the world. They composed the official song for the 2006 football World Cup in Germany, and played at the closing ceremony concert for the 2024 Paris Olympics. They even played for Barack Obama, at the concert marking the US president’s Nobel Peace prize award, and were nominated for a Grammy award in 2010. So long Amadou, and courage to Mariam and the family. Please check out this really good eulogy from Seneweb.com
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USAID and a Few Examples in Africa
I went through the DOGE website to look at the US Agency for International Development (USAID) payments in Africa. No matter what people may say, or what the MSM says, we, Africans, who for the longest times have said that there was something fishy with that organization in our countries, feel vindicated. Can you imagine that some of the payments were made on ‘blank checks,’ without descriptions, receipts, or invoices? Can you, simple individual X, ask money from the government without a justification?
USAID previously allocated $12.3 billion to Sub-Saharan Africa, but much of this funding has now been eliminated. Now, I am not saying that all USAID programs were wrong, but I am saying that some of it was downright suspicious. African governments need to step up to provide for the needs of their own populations, rather than wait for others, and the predators need to let go of Africans.
Just to give you an example, since Robert Mugabe re-distributed the stolen ancestral lands back to their rightful owners in Zimbabwe, the country has been under rigid embargo since the 2000s from the United States, the United Kingdom, and others. How come then, that the USAID totaled over $375,000 for just the month of March 2025 to mitigate the effects of El Niño? Overall, USAID cuts total $522 million in Zimbabwe, which funded a few things including some questionable ones such as, a) $8 million for “New Narratives for accountability” funding musicians and other art creatives to take part in civil society campaigns for accountability; b) $5 million to promote the independence of institutions in Zimbabwe’s justice sector; c) $7 million for media organizations; d) $3 million for election observers. Say WHAT? What does accountability for musicians to take part in civil society campaign mean? Why finance the justice sector in a foreign country? I thought there was embargo???
In Nigeria, among other areas, USAID previously allocated $603 million for governance, security, and economic development among other things, but this funding is now uncertain under the 90-day freeze which stemmed from President Donald Trump executive order. What kind of ‘governance’ funding could the USAID give to a supposedly ‘independent’ country like Nigeria? According to PUNCH, USAID previously allocated approximately $2.8 billion to Nigeria between 2022 and 2024. What did they, USAID, get in return?
USAID’s funding in Africa has historically been allocated across various sectors, including health (why are our countries still in bad shape after years of this aid, if there was no corruption on both sides? By now, with the amount of money, some of these countries should have amazing and robust health sectors), agriculture (in some of these countries, this favored the introduction of GMO crops that have been killing African indigenous cultures among other things), education (show us a country whose education has benefited?), and humanitarian aid. In 2024, the largest recipients of USAID funding in Sub-Saharan Africa included (Top 10 African countries that have received the most aid from the U.S. in 2025 despite USAID ban | Business Insider Africa):
- Ethiopia: $1.22 billion
- Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC): $1.27 billion
- Somalia: $826 million
- South Sudan: $816 million
- Nigeria: $762 million
- Sudan: $671 million
- Kenya: $647 million
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USAID in Africa – Corruption and more
For the past couple of months, the world has awaken to the high evidence that the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) was all a lie, a facade, used under the guise of aid to development, to launder money, influence, and in some cases destabilize countries. Thanks to the work done by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in the US government, we have all seen that this tool, called USAID, was actually a corruption tool. All we are hearing from the main stream media is how cutting USAID funds has plunged Africans into dire times, how this or that AIDS clinic is closing. However, like Former African Union Ambassador Dr. Arikana Chihombori-Quao asked, can you “Show me one country that USAID was in and education improved? Show me one country where USAID was in and healthcare improved?” The articles, At USAID, Waste and abuse runs deep, and illegal payments at USAID Nigeria, are just a few examples. This is nothing new, as seen in an article published back in 2013 about corruption and fraud at USAID.
I watched the interview below of the Former African Union Ambassador to the United States, Dr. Arikana Chihombori-Quao discussing USAID.
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She said, “They are using that open access, sounding humanitarian, to constantly destabilize governments.
We need to understand the real reason why USAID is in Africa, and not just USAID, but other NGOs. They are coming in claiming that they’re introducing grassroots initiatives that are going to help the people, and so they use that as a way to go into the most remote parts of Africa. When you look at it on paper, it all looks really good, but they are actually wolf in sheep’s clothing.”
“The American taxpayer needs to know the billions of dollars that are being given to USAID. A fraction is making it to the people.
They’re using that open access sounding humanitarian to constantly destabilize governments. I can tell you right now, the majority of African leaders, and not just African leaders, but leaders in the developing world are celebrating the exit of USAID.
If you think about it, their sole purpose, for example, filling in the gaps in healthcare and education, where is the change? Show me one country that USAID was in and education improved. Show me one country where USAID was in and healthcare improved?“
African Heritage 